triptych print

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Object Type
Museum number: 1906,1220,0.434
Description: Colour woodblock print, oban triptych. Thirteen kabuki actors in various costumes sheltering from the rain under a tree (amayadori). From the right, right sheet: Matsumoto Koshiro V dressed as a masterless samurai (ronin, possibly Ono Sadakuro) with two swords running for shelter; Iwai Kumesaburo I as a country maiden (inaka musume) riding on a black ox; centre sheet: Onoe Eizaburo I as a young man (wakashu) standing in a translucent black haori coat holding an open fan; Nakayama Tomisaburo I as a lady standing with an umbrella; Segawa Michisaburo I as a shrine maiden (miko); Bando Mitsugoro III as a monkey trainer (saru hiki, possibly the monkey trainer Sarumawashi Yojiro) crouching down below; Ichikawa Hakuen I as an ascetic pilgrim holding a staff, (rokubu, possibly Otomo no Yamanushi); left sheet: Ichikawa Yaozo III as another pilgrim crouching below; Segawa Roko III standing above as a lady in a black summer kimono holding a closed fan; Segawa Michinosuke as a young maiden with long sleeves (furisode) standing with an open umbrella; Sawamura Gennosuke I as an attendant from Kashima Shrine (Kashima no kotobure) crouching down in a black 'eboshi cap, his stick tied with sacred paper (heihaku) carried behind; Ichikawa Omezo I as a man, standing, holding a black summer 'haori' coat; and Arashi Sanpachi I as a footman (yakko) with a straw hat, holding a black lacquered box.
Producer name: Print artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I (歌川豊国); Published by: Nishimuraya Yohachi (西村屋与八)
Cultures/periods
Production date: 1801-1802
Production place: Published in: Edo
Materials
Technique: woodblock; colour
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: Segawa Michisaburo I took that name in the 11th month of 1801; if this triptych was published before that date then he would have been known as Segawa Kikusaburo II. The idea of strangers meeting beneath a tree while sheltering from the rain comes from the Buddhist concept that all such chance encounters are the result of one’s karma. The original Buddhist proverb is ‘Ichiju no kage, ichiga no nagare mo tasho no en’, (一樹の蔭一河の流れも他生の縁). The equivalent in English would be “Sheltering beneath the same tree, drinking from the same stream, all is the result of a former life.”). For a discussion of this design, and other versions of this theme, see Suzuki Juzo, ‘Ukiyoe Amayadori zu’ ko’, in ‘Ukiyoe geijutsu’, no. 100, 1991, pp.4-9. (Paul Griffith, 11/3/2010.)
Bibliographic references: Binyon 1916 / A Catalogue of Japanese & Chinese Woodcuts Preserved in the Sub-Department of Oriental Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (113); Hizo Ukiyo-e taikan Vol 2 / Hizo Ukiyo-e taikan (220)
Location: Not on display
Subjects: actor/actress; kabuki; tree/bush; kosode/furisode
Associated names: Representation of: Matsumoto Koshiro V (五代目松本幸四郎); Representation of: Onoe Kikugoro III (三代目尾上菊五郎); Representation of: Nakayama Tomisaburo I 初代中山富三郎; Representation of: Segawa Michisaburo I (初代瀬川路三郎); Representation of: Bando Mitsugoro III (三代目坂東三津五郎); Representation of: Ichikawa Danjuro V 五代目市川団十郎; Representation of: Suketakaya Takasuke II 二代目助高屋高助; Representation of: Segawa Kikunojo III 三代目瀬川菊之丞; Representation of: Segawa Michinosuke (初代瀬川路之助); Representation of: Sawamura Sojuro IV (四代目澤村宗十郎); Representation of: Ichikawa Omezo I (初代市川男女蔵); Representation of: Arashi Sanpachi I (初代嵐三八); Representation of: Ono Sadakuro (斧定九郎); Representation of: Sarumawashi Yojiro (猿回し与次郎); Representation of: Otomo no Yamanushi (大友山主)
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1906
Department: Asia
Registration number: 1906,1220,0.434

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